Cover glass is a thin individual piece of glass which is usually packaged in plastic or cardboard boxes containing 50 to 150 pieces. A plurality of these boxes, typically measuring 75 mm long.times.29 mm wide.times.29 mm high, are placed for shipping and storage in a cardboard box which is later discarded. Generally about ten boxes of cover glass are placed in a shipping box. Cover glass is used in research and clinical laboratories to cover a specimen on a microscope slide. A microscope slide is a glass substrate, typically 75.times.25 mm.times.1 mm thick. A single piece of cover glass is typically 22-24 mm wide, 22-60 mm long and 0.17 mm thick. The microscope slide, specimen, and cover glass assembly is frequently transported, stored or filed in slide files having slots for holding the microscope slides. These microscope slide files are typically made of wood or injection molded plastic and are relatively expensive. Added plastic parts are sometimes packaged in microscope slide boxes for reuse as slide files, but this increases the cost of microscope slides both for those who use them and those who do not.
Applicants have invented a container which can initially hold a plurality of packages of cover glass for shipment and storage and which later can be used to hold a plurality of microscope slides in an organized fashion in slots which may be numbered. The container is relatively easy to manufacture. Its cost should be no more than and probably less than the cardboard box it replaces.